Page 537 - Top MMA News and Mixed Martial Arts Headlines

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Johnson and McCall fought in an action-packed flyweight-tourney fight. Johnson initially was declared the split-decision winner, and then officials said it was a majority decision for him. But in the post-fight press conference, officials announced a tabulation error resulted in incorrect announcements, and the fight was actually a draw. However, the error was caught too late for the fight to go to what would have been a mandatory sudden-victory fourth round. The fighter now will rematch later this month as the tourney is put on hold.
@UFC:
Johnson/McCall fight was scored wrong - it was a draw- should have gone to sudden victory round. Dana: "I don't even know what to say"
EDIT: It seems that the rematch will be next month, not this month; no more UFC cards are scheduled for March.
Because of the error, the fight – which initially was showered in boos by fans who thought McCall had won – will happen again. Currently, the rematch is tentatively slated for April, though clearly frustrated UFC president Dana White said no exact date is set.

Life gave Ronda Rousey all she could handle when she was born blue and not breathing. Rousey was revived in the operating room, but was later diagnosed with brain damage that hindered her ability to speak coherently until age six.
At 8, Rousey's father took his own life after he'd been paralyzed in a sledding accident and then contracted a rare disease that made recovery impossible.
Mother Ann Maria, who'd taken up judo when her own mother pushed her out the car door at the local YMCA and told her to go join something, made it a requirement that all her four daughters at least try the sport that had empowered her.

Wagnney Fabiano has suffered a knee injury and will be unable to compete in Bellator’s upcoming featherweight tournament.
In his place steps Mike Corey, (pictured, right) who now meets Ronnie Mann in the Season 6 tournament quarterfinals at Bellator 60. Sherdog.com confirmed the news with a source close to the bout on Thursday morning after an initial report from MMAJunkie.com.

*Note: There is currently no sanctioning body or commission for Mixed Martial Arts in Japan. These suspensions are levied directly by the Zuffa dba Ultimate Fighting Championship, in accordance with the guidelines set by the Nevada State Athletic Commission.
Benson Henderson; 45 days no contest; 30 days no contact
Benson Henderson; 180 days or negative x-ray of both hands and left foot for possible fracture

A previously announced featherweight bout between Dustin Poirier (12-1 MMA, 4-0 UFC) and Chan Sung Jung (12-3 MMA, 2-0 UFC) will now headline May's UFC on FUEL TV 3 event.
Officials today announced the bout as a five-round main event.
The winner "is expected to emerge as a challenger to the UFC 145-pound title currently held by Brazilian star Jose Aldo," according to the release.
UFC on FUEL TV 3 takes place May 15 at Patriot Center in Fairfax, Va. The event's main card airs live on FUEL TV while preliminary-card fights are expected to stream on Facebook. The UFC recently announced a number of fights for the card, including main-card bouts of lightweights Jeremy Stephens (20-7 MMA, 7-6 UFC) vs. Donald Cerrone (17-4 MMA, 3-1 UFC) and bantamweights Mike Easton (12-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC) vs. Yves Jabouin (17-7 MMA, 2-1 UFC).

After a nearly four-year absence from MMA, Nate Loughran (9-1) is getting back on the horse.
The UFC vet is dropping from middleweight to welterweight and is slated to meet Bellator and Tachi Palace Fights vet Jaime Jara (32-10) at "Cage Combat FC: The Return," which takes place Saturday at Grace Pavilion in Santa Rosa, Calif.
A student of onetime UFC middleweight challenger David Terrell, Loughran brings a virtually unblemished resume to the cage.

There's been lots of hooplah about Sylvia trying to get back into the UFC, but he just did something that I think is pretty badass.
In a video to fans, he said if he gets back into the UFC, he'll pick a fan to be in his corner...that's pretty sweet regardless if you love or hate him

In an interview for his campaign to get back to the UFC, Tim Sylvia confidently says he can KO Stefan Struve, Travis Brown, and Christian Morecraft
I know he also called out Kongo before...and after seeing Kongo's last fight, I think Sylvia could def do it. I think Brown would win, but Kongo, Struve, and Morecraft would be good fights to watch

Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson missed weight for his fight with Ryan Bader by an enormous five pounds, something unheard of for the former UFC and Pride champion. Already beset by allegations that he was not taking the fight seriously, the weight-miss was taken as proof positive that he did not care about the bout or respect Bader as an opponent.
In the week prior to the fight, Jackson had caused a storm by slamming UFC commentator Joe Rogan. He accused Rogan of biased commentary and said that he always had negative comments to make about Jackson’s techniques and overall game. All in all, the days preceding the fight were not vintage for Jackson.
Then the fight itself went 15 minutes and apart from one or two sparks - including a trademark slam - it was something of an anti-climax and Jackson was again criticised - by fans - for displaying a limited repertoire. Stung by this criticism, and unhappy about a few other things, Jackson picked up the phone and told Fighters Only a few home truths which he would like to share with the world.

A Russian bantamweight prospect has been booked to make his UFC debut in May at UFC on Fuel 3 in Virginia, as Alex Soto has agreed to welcome Azamat Gashimov to the Octagon, according to valetudo.ru:
Promising Russian bantamweight fighter, Azamat Gashimov , will hold his first fight in the U.S. on May 15 in Fairfax, Virginia. Gashimov will meet Mexican-American Alex Soto on the undercard of UFC on Fuel TV 3. This news was given to valetudo.ru by Sam Kardan, the manager of the Russian.
The UFC's signing of Gashimov was reported several months ago, as he's part of a slew of Russian talent from the K-Dojo gym who are co-managed by the AMA Fight Club's Mike Constantino, who has scouted several Russian fighters to train alongside the Miller brothers and Charlie Brenneman in New Jersey, and compete for major US organizations, including Strikeforce's Adlan Amagov, and UFC lightweight, Khabib Nurmagomedov.

Several matches were made official for the upcoming UFC on FUEL TV 3 event set for Virginia this upcoming May.
Looking for his first win in the Octagon will be lightweight fighter, and WEC veteran, Kamal ‘The Prince of Persia’ Shalorus (7-2-2) who takes on BJJ black belt Rafael dos Anjos (15-6).
The bout was announced at UFC.com on Wednesday.

Joseph Benavidez is finally where he belongs.
And in many ways, it feels like he's just now making his UFC debut.
As one of four competitors in the UFC's historic and inaugural flyweight tournament, Benavidez (15-2 MMA, 2-0 UFC) has essentially written off his first two UFC fights and considers Friday's bout with Yasuhiro Urushitani (19-4-6 MMA, 0-0 UFC) his real promotional debut.
Benavidez and Urushitani fight at UFC on FX 2, which takes place Saturday at Sydney's Allphones Arena (but airs live on FX in the U.S. on Friday due to the time difference). In the other UFC on FX 2 opening-round tourney matchup, Demetrious Johnson (9-2 MMA, 2-1 UFC) takes on Ian McCall (11-2 MMA, 0-0 UFC).
The two winners meet this summer, and the eventual tourney champion becomes the UFC's first-ever flyweight titleholder.

With the abdication of former Strikeforce light heavyweight champ Dan Henderson, and the recent positive steroid result for Muhammed ‘King Mo’ Lawal, the Zuffa owned promotion is running out of available fighters to contend for the vacant title.
One of those hoping for a shot at the belt, is former champ Rafael ‘Feijao’ Cavalcante (11-3) who has been sitting patiently since his win last September over Yoel Romero Palacio. The two met in Ohio as part of the Barnett vs. Kharitonov event and saw Cavalcante end the fight by second round knockout.
‘Feijao’ is hoping to return to action this April, and had been training to face ‘King Mo’ for the 205-lbs strap, but with Lawal out the Brazilian figures he’ll have to compete one more time before he gets a shot at reclaiming his belt.

Halt any talk about Frankie Edgar moving down to the featherweight division. Fresh off his unanimous decision loss to Ben Henderson at UFC 144, the former lightweight champion says that he's staying right where he is, and that he wants an immediate rematch.
Known for his soft-spoken style outside of the cage, Edgar made probably the most impassioned demand of his career in a Wednesday interview on The MMA Hour. After noting that he had given rematches to both Gray Maynard and BJ Penn, he said that he expects the same treatment after a close loss.
"I'm saying it, and I'm saying it loud: I want my rematch," he said. "I'm not going to have these antics or play these games. I'm telling you want I want. This is what I want. I think it's fair. I think the fans want to see it. It was fight of the night. Listen, even if these guys want to see me get beat up, I do get beat up in a lot of my fights, even in the fights I win, so it’s win-win for everybody."

Former UFC light heavyweight champion Mauricio "Shogun" Rua recently spoke with Brazilian news source Tatame to give an update about his MMA career. The discussion covered his current management situation as Shogun recently split with long time manager Eduardo Alonso. The split caught many people off guard as Alonso had been with Shogun for much of his career and by all accounts the two had a great relationship. Though the reason for the split is still a bit of a mystery, an overwhelming factor was that Shogun would often have difficulty balancing training and dealing with media obligations.
What's next? They've talked about Phil Davis and Rampage Jackson...
I guess it could be one of these guys. I don't discard Ryan Bader nor Rampage, Dan Henderson, Rich Franklin... I guess there are many guys I could fight. Actually, soon I'll know more about it and I'll keep you posted. I'm sure I'll train focused on my opponent and he's going to be a hard one.
So, talking about the old days.... Would you like to rematch Rampage?
Absolutely. The fight against Rampage will happen eventually. It's inevitable and UFC knows it. He won't retire before fighting me and neither am I (laughs).
Were you surprised by his performance against Ryan Bader?
It's hard to tell because we don't know what happens to each and every fighter. I don't know if he got injured, if he was not feeling ok... It's hard to know, but Rampage is very professional and deserves to be respected.

Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson – the star of the highest-rated season of "The Ultimate Fighter" in the show's history – is making a return to the reality series. Sort of.
Ferguson will host Spike TV's debut of "The Ultimate Fighter Fridays" on March 9 at 9 p.m. ET/PT.
The weekly three-hour specials counter-program new episodes of "The Ultimate Fighter 15," which also debuts March 9 – on FX, the series' new broadcast home.